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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE HUMAN VOICE. 



ITS PRODUCTION 



CULTIVATION 



37 



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AN ESSAY 




NGTf 

Read before the Classes of 
The National School of Elocution and Oratory 



April i6th, 1891, 



1414 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 



GEO. B. HYNSON 



Teacher of Voice Culture. 






COPYRIGHT 

Ey GEO. B. HYNSON 
1891 



PRESS OF THE FRANKLIN PRINTING 00. 



TO TIJE 

STUDENTS 

OF THE 

National School of Elocution and Okatory, 

my pupils and my friends, 

who have inspired much that is contained in this essay, 

and who are responsible for its publication, 

TO THEM, 

WITH WHATEVER MERIT IT POSSESSES, 

IT IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS, 



u 
JTr/HERE is no musical instrument so nicely arranged. 

so harmoniously adjusted, or so wonderfully formed 
as the great organ of speech, the human voice. 
Physicians and scientists the world over for centuries have 
studied, discussed, and wrangled, and yet, at the present 
day, standing as we do at the zenith of the world's civil- 
ization and learning, there is much that is dim and as yet 
unexplained. Physicians, arguing from a common basis, 
reach very different conclusions in discussing voice, as they 
also do in other matters; while teachers have their hobbies 
and the student frequently is left to grope in the dark, en- 
tangled and hindered by the maze of speculation surround- 
ing him. 

There is much that is uncertain ; there is much that is 
willfully obscured, yet there is also much that is plain, and 
so philosophical that the student may comprehend, receive, 
and apply it. Hobbies have their uses ; they start new lines 
of investigation and often are the forerunners of ultimate 
truth. 

It is not my purpose here to enter into the realm of the 
merely speculative, but if the reader will come with me, 
we will investigate together and discuss a few principles, 
simple, natural, and practical, by the aid of which we may 
add culture, beauty, and power to the most wonderful of 
all instruments, the human voice. Let each student deter- 
mine to study his own voice, carefully considering each 

5 



quality of strength or weakness, for the ability to detect a 
fault must precede the application of the remedy. 

Much learning and scientific investigation have been spent 
in the effort to prove that the human voice is like some one 
of the musical instruments, some contending that it most 
resembles a flute, while others say it is a stringed instru- 
ment like the violin, and still others show its resemblance 
to the reed instrument. Of late an agreement seems to 
have been reached — that it partakes of each of them. But 
it would seem that we might go one step further and 
say that it is a great original, this " harp of a thousand 
strings" — that its chords were strung by the hand of 
Deity, and tuned to the harmonies of that sphere where 
there are no imperfections — no discords; that it is the per- 
fected instrument of a perfect maker, and that the greater 
we render its harmonies and power, the more we magnify 
the name of its Author. All merely mechanical appliances 
must, of necessity, be more or less imperfect and they can 
only represent some one or more phases of human speech. 

If we understood the workmanship and control of each 
organ ; if we could produce each piece of bone, muscle, and 
cartilage; if we could understand the uses of and could me- 
chanically control each function, then we should succeed in 
forming something that would resemble the human voice. 
The phonograph with all its wonderful results, serves only 
to reproduce more or less accurately a voice already made. 
It merely photographs a voice, and requires an original 
which it slavishly copies. Therefore the voice is the chief 
of instruments, the most intricate in its mechanism, and 
yet the most easily controlled. Its changes and variety 
may be infinite, and we are the masters, with our hands 
upon the keys. Let us, through this medium, send forth 
the melodies, the thoughts, and emotions that were written 
by the hand of Deity upon the pages of our hearts and 
minds. 

Then, on the threshold of our work, we must determine 



to investigate, expecting to find much that is dark. We 
may question, where the answer comes not back, aud yet 
there is much which we shall know. There are faults 
which we shall remedy, and there are heights of develop- 
ment to be reached by the application of correct physical 
laws. And, too, we may accomplish much by mere imita- 
tion, without ever knowing the exact change that is under- 
gone in the vocal apparatus. The physician regards this 
study from his own standpoint; let us look at it from ours, 
aiming at results, rather than fine-spun theories, and adopt- 
ing the latter only as they help us to realize the practical. 

PURPOSES OF YOCAL CULTURE. 

God has given to each of us a mind, aud that mind 
takes on certain phases of sensation or emotion. The value 
of these sensations or emotions is measured chiefly by our 
power of communicating them. Nearly all our knowledge 
is gotten with reference to its communication. Whether I 
study law, medicine, theology, or art, I do so with refer- 
ence to its ultimate expression. Now the voice is the great, 
the principal medium of this conveyance, consequently we 
realize the importance of developing and enlarging this 
medium, and hence, voice culture. 

Sometimes we are asked why, inasmuch as Nature has 
given us mind, has she not given us ample power to con- 
vey the product of that mind. An infant has a mind, but 
it is only in embryo. It also has a power of expression 
fully adequate to the mind's phases. But the intellect 
must be trained ; so must the powers of expression. It is 
as philosophical to say that the sculptor can carve, the 
artist can paint, or the mind of man reach its highest de- 
velopment without training, as that the human voice can 
portray all the thoughts and emotions of the mind and 
heart without any study or training. We think infinitely 
more than we can tell, and could we adequately picture all 
of our emotions we would move an audience at will. 



Man's primitive condition is but little higher than any 
other auiraal. The savage has but few desires, and but 
few emotions. He wants food, drink, and warmth ; his 
thoughts are confined principally to these. Having them 
he is satisfied, and without them he is savage. Hence, his 
two great thoughts are pleasure and pain. Now any ani- 
mal can express these two emotions. Notice the whinny 
of a horse or his squeals of rage, the joyous bark of a dog 
or his growl, a cat's purr or its screams — all these are the 
natural expressions of an animal's feeling. Just so the 
primitive man grunts his satisfaction and growls his pain. 
But his tribe grows older and begins the slow and tedious 
march from savagery to civilization : hunting gives way 
to agriculture ; then come the sciences, and then literature. 
He thinks and feels, and as he does so he forms uew sounds 
to convey these sensations. These are taken up and modi- 
fied into other combinations, and soon he has articulate 
speech. Then comes civilization, the triumph of mind 
over matter, and finally perfected language. Thoughts 
and feeling and language go hand in hand. They arc 
wedded to each other ; when one develops the other de- 
velops, and when one decays the other must follow. 

Now when we consider that language consists in some- 
thing more than mere printed or articulate words, that like 
eloquence, it is something more than speech ; that intona- 
tions, inflections, and harmonies mean infinitely more than 
any aggregation of mere sound or printed matter, we see 
the value of the voice and of its cultivation. There is a 
subtilty of tone which the actor or orator uses to clothe 
his thought, which may move an audience to tears or to 
curses — more the tone than the words. How may this 
variety be obtained ? Partly by a natural unconscious 
imitation of others, and partly through intelligent and 
systematic cultivation. 

Oae of the purposes of cultivation is that the health of 
the parts thus used, by the application of the true laws of 



development, may be best conserved. In order to produce 
our best and most resonant sounds, we must study respira- 
tion, and all of these organs are strengthened by the proper 
use. It is a well-known principle that all the parts of our 
being, physical, mental, and spiritual, develop by correct 
and reasonable use. The arm of labor grows sinewy and 
strong. In a gymnasium the skillful teacher first finds, by 
many measurements, where the student is weakest and sets 
to work to develop those parts by their use. It has been 
shown by experiments that if a person carries an arm in a 
sling for several months, without using it in any manner, 
it will lose its strength and the muscles become relaxed, so 
that it becomes powerless. Now if reasonable use devel- 
ops all parts of the body, why do not the organs of speech 
grow stronger as we use them ? The answer is obvious : 
they do when we use them properly. Voice is a phase of 
muscular activity. It may be termed vocalized breath. It 
is the result of certain vibrations of the air, produced by 
the action of the breath upon the vocal bands, modified 
and made resonant by the cavities of the chest, head, and 
mouth, and controlled by the muscles of the diaphragm 
and abdomen. When we add to this the molding and 
enunciation given by the mouth we may term it speech. 

THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE UPON 
SPEECH. 

When we closely observe the languages spoken by the 
different peoples of the globe, we find in some more haish 
and guttural sounds than in others. Those who dwell 
beneath sunny skies, where the blossoms are ever bloom- 
ing and where frost and snow are unknown, speak in lan- 
guages soft and musical, both in their elementary sounds 
and in their cadences and inflections. Compare the Span- 
ish, Portuguese, and kindred tongues with the German or 
Russian, or even the English. The differences in climate 



10 

through its centuries of modification is greatly responsible 
for this difference. Inhabitants of tropical climes are more 
indolent than their brethren of the colder lands. Nature 
spreads her bounties before them. Life is not a scramble 
for food and shelter. As men think, they speak, and the 
rush and bustle of business, the rattle of the wheels of 
commerce, and all the jar and friction pertaining thereto 
finds its outlet and expression in the human voice. 

Then, too, climate has its effect on the organs of speech. 
The people of northern climates live principally within 
doors, where the air is more or less vitiated and impure. 
Rooms ill-ventilated, full of gas or impure air are com- 
mon. In southern climes the inhabitants live more in the 
open air and breathe it at all times unadulterated by gases 
or impurities, and, hence, their respiratory organs are 
stronger and healthier. Then, again, occupation has much 
to do with this. A race of men occupied in close factories 
or closer offices, and women and children inhabiting hot- 
air boxes they call rooms, from which the pure air and 
sunlight of heaven are rigorously excluded, who never go 
out-of-doors, except for a ride on a warm day, enwrapped 
in furs, thus neglecting sunlight, pure air, and exercise, 
those three requisites to good health ; such a race must 
deteriorate physically and the organs of respiration be 
clogged, choked, and dwarfed for want of reasonable use. 
The cold also has an influence on voice, by stiffening the 
muscles of the mouth, throat, and lips. A cultivation of 
these organs until they are perfectly flexible and pliable is 
necessary to correct enunciation. When the head and face 
are intensely cold, correct and distinct utterance is almost 
impossible. The muscles of the jaw are rigid ; thus the 
mouth does not open sufficiently; the lips do not take on 
the proper changes of form, the throat is less flexible, and 
the voice is less resonant and distinct. It is only reasona- 
ble to suppose that a people who have been thus subjected 
for many centuries, should have incorporated some of these 



11 

qualities into their language and into articulate speech. 
Fortunately this is a rule where exceptions abound, and 
these faults and hereditary tendencies may generally be 
neutralized by intelligent and systematic cultivation. 



THE VOCAL APPARATUS. 

Generally speaking, the whole body has something to do 
with the making of voice. It takes a perfect man, physi- 
cally, to make a perfect voice. Health is indispensable to 
one who would have the best control of the organs of 
speech. Over-indulgence in any line, all forms of dissipa- 
tion, aifect some one or more of the organs that make, con- 
trol, or modify speech. Every student of voice would do 
well to copy the abstemious habits of the best public singers. 
Much depends upon the position of the head and chest of 
a speaker when he is using the voice. The foundation of 
a good voice is a well-developed thorax, and the proper 
control of the organs of respiration. 

All voice is formed in the voice box, and is produced by 
the vibration of the vocal bands ; it may be controlled, 
molded, and modified elsewhere, but it is made here. In 
ordinary breathing the bands are relaxed, allowing the air 
to pass in and out freely. They maintain this same re- 
laxed condition, also, in a whisper, then the air being 
more forcibly exhaled is molded into words, just as vocal- 
ized sounds are. When we think of speaking the bands 
assume a tensioned condition, and come close together in a 
parallel position. The expulsion of the air from the lungs 
sets these bands vibrating, and the result is a succession of 
vibrations formed into sound waves which, with their 
moldings and modifications, we call speech. The vocal 
bands are just below the " Adam's apple/' in the throat, 
so that any one may locate them. The voice box is a 
funnel-shaped opening placed at the top of the windpipe 



12 

(trachea), and opens into it. This is divided into the 
bronchi and bronchial tubes, with are connected with the 
lungs. The lungs are those large balloon or sponge- 
like bodies that fill the greater portion of the thoracic 
cavity. They lie close in around the ribs, and are pro- 
tected by them. They constitute the bellows or the wind- 
chamber, and their correct control is indispensable to the 
correct forms of voice production. But the inhalation and 
exhalation of air must be controlled. Too much breath 
must not be expended, but exactly enough to produce the 
tone the mind contemplates. This requires the utmost 
precision and nicety of control, and hence we study the 
muscles that exercise this influence. All the muscles of 
the diaphragm, abdomen, and thorax are employed in 
this work, and their particular functions will be considered 
in a later chapter under " Breathing." Then, too, voice 
receives many modifications by all the muscles and parts 
with which it comes in contact, all helping to give reson- 
ance, volume, and character to it. For a perfect voice ab- 
solute harmony of all the parts concerned is necessary, and 
hence we may say that nearly all parts of man should be 
considered under the head of " vocal organs." 

BREATHING. 

There is no one branch of voice culture that should re- 
ceive more careful consideration than breathing ; because 
breath is voice when vocalized, and speech when modified 
and molded, and hence upon its control must depend the 
control of the voice. The student is wont to neglect this 
branch of work, because he must wait patiently to see the 
results which manifest themselves later on in the voice. 
Let the student first accustom himself to breathing through 
the nose. This is the normal way for animals to breathe, 
and is the only healthy manner of breathing. The savage 
who lives principally in the open air, and whose life is one 



13 

of activity, invariably breathes through the nose. All 
animals but man breathe in the same manner. Some of 
them, indeed, nearly all of them, do not know how to 
breathe through the mouth. Experiments have been fre- 
quently tried, stopping up the nostrils of animals, and they 
prove that if the experiment is not discontinued the ani- 
mal dies from suffocation. Drivers often subdue unruly 
horses by stopping up the nasal passages with the hand. 
The animal is frantic till the hand is removed. The in- 
ference is, then, that the normal breathing for animals is 
through the nose. 

There are several strong reasons for this form of breath- 
ing. The nose is a wonderful instrument, a study in itself, 
and we find by close observation that it was designed to 
serve certain specific purposes. It is the olfactory organ, 
and when its passages have become clogged and less deli- 
cate and sensitive from want of use, the power of smell is 
affected thereby. The nose, internally, is one of the 
warmest parts of the body. Nature has designed it so 
that it may give warmth to the cold air on its way to the 
lungs. Now, a person taking the air through the mouth 
allows it to enter the lungs, passing over the tender vocal 
machinery, in a cold condition. Then the nose is so ar- 
ranged in its passages, folds, and fibres that all impurities, 
such as dust, are strained from the air, causing it to enter 
the lungs in a pure condition. One who breathes through 
the nose in a dusty atmosphere for a short time will notice 
the impurities which gather in the nasal passages. Then, 
too, if the air is too dry, the capillaries give off moisture, 
and thus make the air more suitable for entering the lungs. 
But suppose the air is too moist! What then? Why, these 
same capillaries absorb part of this moisture, keeping the 
air in as perfect condition as possible. There is enough in 
the study of the nose, in its uses, from the standpoint of 
voice or health, to prove the existence of some all-wise 
Maker. 



14 

A careful observation of those we meet on the street will 
show that the great majority of people breathe with the 
mouth slightly open, and through it. People have this 
habit who are totally unconscious of it. Now, science tells 
us that here, as elsewhere, if we do not use the nose it will 
lose to some extent the power of performing the functions 
for which it was designed. When man disdains Nature's 
gifts she withdraws them. Therefore, if we make the 
mouth do the work of the nose, the latter organ will be- 
come clogged and its passages stopped, and will lose its re- 
sonance and become the legitimate prey of disease. Many 
colds and diseases of the head and nose are brought about 
by the disuse of these parts. 

Avoid using the voice in the open air, when the atmos- 
phere is damp or cold. Out-door serenades, sleighing songs, 
and street conversation in cold weather should be indulged 
in only by those who do not value their voices. For 
when we are speaking or singing the organs are in a state 
of activity, and, consequently, are warm and sensitive ; 
now if we pour in on them a stream of cold or damp air 
they will be affected thereby. Do not exercise the voice 
when the air is too cold or impure, and after reading, 
public speaking, or singing be very careful of the vocal 
organs till they have recovered from their labor and re- 
sumed their usual condition. These precautions are ne- 
cessary if we value voice ; for the most precious things 
in life are the ones we guard most jealously. A street 
vendor who barters his wares from door to door, has a 
voice sufficient, without cultivation, for his purpose, but he 
who deals in the products of the human mind, and the 
varying phases of the human soul, needs a more varied, 
refined, and accurate method of expression. A few gallons 
of paint, a brush, and a tramp may paint a barn, but these 
would hardly produce an "Angel us." Let us, then, cul- 
tivate and develop the voice, taking the utmost care of it, 
remembering that, like other instruments, improper use, 



15 

and want of proper attention will lessen its value. How 
careful we are of a fine piano, or a rare old violin, be- 
cause of their value; let us remember that the vocal 
machinery is of far greater value, and then we shall per- 
haps care for it accordingly. 

This work should be begun in childhood, first by teach- 
ing the young to breathe properly. The first requisite is 
to impress the mind with the necessity of using the nose 
for this purpose. We may so impress the mind with this 
that after a time it will be impossible for us to sleep when 
the nasal passages from any cause are stopped, and we are 
compelled to breathe through the mouth. All diseases of 
the respiratory organs work downwards, and many a case 
of consumption could be traced back to a cold in the head 
or throat, brought about, in its inception, by an improper 
use of these parts, or by their disuse. 

A very great deal depends on our manner of breathing, 
or the method employed in the use of the muscles of the 
diaphragm, thorax, and abdomen in respiration. How- 
ever great the divergence of opinion on this matter it is 
one Ave cannot shun, and we must meet and consider it 
from the standpoints of both science and experience. 

We are told by some that there is but one correct form 
of breathing, modified or exaggerated to suit the occasion, 
and that is the natural or abdominal method. This method 
is characterized by a protusion of the abdomen, and the 
downward movement of the diaphragm during the act of 
inspiration, and a recession during expiration. This, cer- 
tainly, is the easiest form of breathing, but it is not the 
most effective when a considerable quantity of air is to be 
controlled. When we speak of natural breathing we must 
take into consideration the purposes for which the breath 
is taken. We breathe at different times for different ob- 
jects ; at one time the purpose is simply to supply the 
lungs with oxygen, at another time, vocalization is the ob- 
ject. Then in one moment we inhale for the purpose of 



16 

using the air in the lungs, and then give it out because it 
has served our purpose, and we are through with it ; at 
another time we inhale when the object in view is exha- 
lation, and the exhalation for the purposes of sound. 
Hence, there are two forms of breathing, active and pas- 
sive ; the former is employed when we would control a 
great amount of air in respiration, and the latter when the 
breathing is merely to sustain life. In abdominal breath- 
ing the thorax is somewhat lengthened in inhalation, thus 
allowing a slight expansion in the extreme lower regions 
of the lungs, at the same time the downward action of the 
diaphragm and the protrusion of the abdomen draw the 
ribs down and in, so the only increase in thoracic cavity is 
in its length. Now this expansion occurs where there is 
comparatively little lung tissue, and there is a contraction 
where there is most. Any one who has examined a pair of 
inflated luugs will have noticed that the expansion is 
almost entirely in circumference, and not in length, or, in 
other words, the greatest number of air cells is in the 
middle, and not in the extreme lower regions. Since it 
must be conceded that that form of breathing which allows 
the greatest expansion where there is greatest lung tissue is 
the correct mode, w£ must conclude that this expansion 
must take place in the middle or lower thoracic region. 
Therefore, as w r e have seen that abdominal breathing 
lengthens the thorax, and at the same time draws down 
and in the bony structure around the lungs, thus decreas- 
ing their cavity of expansion, we must conclude that this 
form of breathing is not most effective for the purposes of 
speech and song. 

The idea should not be to force out the chest by the fill- 
ing of the lungs, but rather to relieve them of unnecessary 
strain, by throwing out the chest, by its own muscles, and 
allowing the lungs to fill quickly and easily, by having 
made room for their expansion. Now the chest has muscles 
powerful and ample to raise and expand it, just as 



17 

the arm has power to control 'its movements. If we wish 
to observe the strength of the muscles of the thorax and 
abdomen, notice their spasmodic action in violent coughing 
or vomiting. There Ave have the strong inward action^ 
expelling the air from the lungs explosively and exhaust- 
ing them in a single effort. Now for the purposes of speech 
or song the action should be the opposite of this, the lungs 
should be kept inflated, the chest expanded, and only suf- 
ficient breath given out to make the sound desired. It 
takes a certain quantity of breath to produce a pure tone, 
and the least additional amount render the tone impure 
and injures it. Then the idea of thoracic breathing is not 
to pump in a great volume of air and pump it out again, 
but rather to control it in the lungs, giving out just enough 
for voice and no more, and thus keeping the chest full and 
firm, which will give greater resonance and unity to sound. 

It does not require much breath to make voice. To 
prove this, take a deep inspiration and give out the breath 
slowly through the mouth until the lungs are exhausted, 
then inhale again and vocalize the sound and we shall find 
that the latter may be prolonged just as long as the former. 
It requires a far greater amount of breath to make a whis- 
per than it does to produce vocalization. 

Dr. Lennox Browne compares thetmovement of the ribs 
to a bucket handle, the more they are raised, the more they 
are thrown out. Therefore the only way to expand the 
thorax is to raise the ribs by the external muscles connected 
with them. These muscles expand the ribs till the chest 
assumes a tension something like a tightened drum-head. 
At the same time there is a slight depression of the dia- 
phragm. Then comes the act of expiration, for the pur- 
pose of voice making ; now the diaphragm contracts still 
more and presses the abdomen still further downward. 
But the muscles of the abdomen are resisting forces and 
their tendency is upward, so the diaphragm contracts 
strongly around the abdomen, and slightly overcomes its 



18 

upward movement. This firmness of base gives character 
and resonance to voice. 

This chest expansion may take place either in the upper 
or in the lower regions, and where it occurs there the lungs 
will fill. When there is any constriction of the waist, the 
lungs are pressed upward and their lower portions are not 
allowed to properly expand. When this occurs, the breath- 
ing is in the upper thoracic regions, because this is the best 
and only form of breathing applicable under the condi- 
tions. The proper and healthful way is to remove the 
constriction and allow the whole lung to expand. Now 
the true mode of breathing is the middle or lower thoracic 
breathing, because by it we get the most expansion around 
those parts where the most lung tissue lies. Of course no 
one of these forms can exist independently of the others, 
but the fact that some one of them predominates, gives 
rise to the difference in terms. 

Speaking and singing are active processes, and as the 
nerves are tensioned and the whole body active, the facial 
expression more intense, and the gestures more vigorous 
as the audience is larger and the thought more intense, so 
the chest should be active and vigorous, or, in other words, 
adapted to the demands of occasion. 

Let the student keep this in mind, that in speaking or 
singing or in practicing breathing exercises, he should fill 
the lungs from top to bottom and from centre to circum- 
ference, and the form of inhalation which is most condu- 
cive to this is the correct method. 

Do not throw the shoulders up nor the back forward, 
but teach the chest to expand by the raising and expand- 
ing of the ribs. When the chest is thus expanded, by 
placing the hands on it and giving a forcible sound, we 
may distinctly feel the vibrations. Practice this till you 
can distinctly discern these vibrations in any part of the 
thorax which covers the lungs, and then you may be cer- 
tain of chest resonance. Athletes frequently throw the 



19 

chest out in this manner while boxing, in which case the 
blow has no more effect than pounding a tightened drum- 
head, but a blow on a relaxed chest might do a great deal 
of harm, for in that case the walls of the chest lie against 
the lungs in a relaxed condition. 

Avoid a stooping position or any drooping of the shoul- 
ders. This cramps the upper portions of the lungs and 
keeps them from expanding properly. Bear this in mind, 
that in the disuse of the lungs disease is the penalty we 
must pay. Practice diligently breathing exercises, keeping 
two objects in view, lung expansion and breath control. 
The books abound with these exercises, and we can make 
and adapt exercises to suit these ends. Avoid many ex- 
plosive sounds, as these only irritate and may permanently 
injure the respiratory organs. Practice control of breath 
exhalation ; see that it is as smooth and regular as the 
note of an organ. Fill the lungs full, then exhale so 
slowly and regularly that the escaping breath will not 
cause a candle flame to flicker. This exercise will require 
two efforts, first keeping the breath back, and in the end 
forcing the air out by strong muscular contraction. 

THE CORRECT BASIS FOR VOICE. 

Of course, to make a correct tone, many different things 
are to be taken into consideration. It depends upon the 
proper and united action of the different parts of the whole 
being — upon the control of the muscles of the throat aud 
the muscles of respiration. First, all forms of vocalization 
should be made without friction. It takes many years of 
use to wear out a watch, but a little dust among the works 
will stop it, so voice should be made without any great 
effort, without friction. It is sometimes said that voice 
may be made indefinitely without waste and without tiring 
its producer, but this is one of those dangerous half-truths. 
Voice is muscular activity and this activity produces w T aste.. 



20 

Something cannot be gotten from nothing, and it takes con- 
siderable strength to produce a large voice for any length 
of time. The truth is that the proper use of the voice takes 
the strain off of the throat and distributes it all over the 
body, where it belongs. The throat and its different parts 
should not be more exhausted than other parts of the 
vocal machinery, for Nature has constructed a perfect ma- 
chine, and when there is harmony in its operations each 
part will be equally affected. The throat, then, was made 
to perform certain functions, and it is only when it is mis- 
used or over-taxed that it rebels. 

There is a school of elocution which claims to give the 
student such instruction that he may acquire such control 
of the voice that it will be as strong and flexible in old age 
as in youth. This is a fallacy. An old man may have a 
good voice, but it will be an old man's voice. There would 
be a lack of harmony if an old man should come tottering 
on the stage, his gait unsteady and his gestures tremulous, 
and should begin speaking in a round, clear, firm tone 
such as a young man would use in vigorous manhood. As 
in old age we lose to a great extent control of the body, so 
that it has not the strength and vigor of our earlier man- 
hood, the voice will be affected by and will conform to 
these conditions. Therefore, the only thing a student may 
hope to do is to make the best voice possible under the ex- 
isting conditions. Nature has intended that the physical 
being should be the outlet or medium of expression both of 
its oivn phases and of the sensations of the mind and soul 
within. If we are joyous or excited the first impression 
is made on the mind; now, while in this nervous state, the 
mind thinks and acts with lightning-like rapidity. This 
movement is also conveyed to the body ; the nerves are 
strung, the muscles tensioned. We move quickly, our ges- 
tures are quick and spasmodic and decided. Now, all these 
sensations are conveyed to the vocal machinery, and as the 
whole man is tensioned, so the vocal bands are tensioned 



21 

and this throws the voice up, and hence this is the usual 
form it takes in excitement. It will be observed that the 
impression is first made on the brain, and then to the body, 
and through it to the voice. Hence, we think before we 
act, and act before we speak, and this is why gesture usu- 
ally precedes voice, because the emotion manifests itself 
first in the body and through it to the vocal bands, or by 
speech. Consequently, in sadness, awe, reverence, and all 
mental depression, the body, by its relaxation and slug- 
gish movements, adequately pictures this and conveys its 
impressions to the voice which relaxes the vocal bands and 
throws the voice down on a low pitch and gives it a de- 
liberate, sluggish movement. Therefore, the state of the 
mind and the condition of the whole physical being aifect 
the vocal apparatus and its product. Then may we not 
advance a step and say, it takes a perfect man, mentally, 
morally, and physically, to make a perfect voice? 

The healthy man is the one who best resists an epi- 
demic, and so the healthy vocal machinery, brought about 
by correct forms of exercise, will resist minor forms of dis- 
eases. Conscientious teachers and doctors may be of great 
assistance to each other in this work. 

Very often the pharynx and all the muscles of the throat 
-are contracted and there is produced what may be termed 
a throaty tone. This is especially true when we attempt 
to give a tone above our usual range. We usually use our 
voices in speech near our lowest notes, hence the higher 
ones are less familiar and more difficult. Often, too, the 
sounds are made abruptly or irregularly in outline. These 
forms should be avoided. The mind influences voice and 
conveys its impressions to it instantly and naturally. Con- 
sequently when we imagine a tone will be difficult, the im- 
pression is conveyed to the voice and manifests itself in it. 
Two things are necessary, first placing the vocal organs in 
proper position, and then by making the sound many 



22 

times, convince the mind that it is easy and thus the strain 
will be taken away from the throat. 

Open the mouth and throat well, the mouth up and 
down rather than broadly. Throw the chin down and* 
out. Do not drop the jaw at an acute angle or toward 
the neck, but rather at an obtuse angle, down and out. 
This relieves the throat, and gives us mouth and throat 
cavity. Take a sound on an easy pitch. Start with it 
clear and smooth, now run up and down with it on a slide 
without change of the vocal organs, except the tension and 
relaxation of the vocal bands, keeping the mouth in the 
same position, and the result will be as clear a note on the 
higher and lower pitches as in the middle. We shall be 
surprised to find with what ease all the notes of the differ- 
ent pitches within our range may be made. 

[t frequently occurs that a speaker's voice, although 
pleasant and musical, may be exceedingly monotonous and 
almost unbearable, because of its lack of variety. 

The speaker may keep on one key, may give the same 
amount of force or the same inflections throughout. Speech 
should consist in light and shade. One form of voice calls 
for its relief or opposite, and thus such variety as pleases 
the ear may be given, and at the same time the varying and 
almost infinite phases of thought and emotion may be ade- 
quately portrayed. Most persons are unaware of this 
monotony, and some, seeing it, make the matter worse bv 
attempting to remedy it. The true course is to resolve 
speech into its original elements and study these. Taking 
for granted that purity, flexibility, and resonance are to be 
the prime objects at all times, let us see how this great 
variety may be obtained. First, then, there are two things 
to be considered — force and movement. The degrees of 
the former we cannot measure, and the combinations of the 
latter are almost infinite. 

Let us first notice that there are but three general move- 
ments of the voice, and all others are combinations of 



23 

these. The musical is that form where there is no inflec- 
tion, no change of pitch while one separate sound is being 
made. It is that sound when the vanish is sustained on 
the same pitch as the body of the tone. 

This musical sound, whether the note is short or sus- 
tained, may always be found by singing one of the musi- 
cal notes. Taking one of these for our guide, we may al- 
ways find the musical movement. Suppose we take " do " 
for our musical keyword. There is no person, however 
ignorant of music, who tries to sing the notes of the scale 
who will often inflect them. 

The inflected tones occur when the movement is not on 
the musical, but is either upward or downward. To find 
a rising inflection, ask a question ; ask that question which 
we use when a person is not understood : " Eh ?" and our 
voices take the upward inflection. Now answer this ques- 
tion positively, and the answer will be. the falling inflec- 
tion. Notice your inflection when you answer emphati- 
cally, "No !" All other forms are mere combinations or 
exaggerations of these. Construct a table of sounds of 
different shapes, of different pitches, different degrees of 
force, changes in inflections, and by combining these in all 
possible ways we may secure such variety as only stops 
short of the infinite. Inflections are produced by a slight 
tension or relaxation of the vocal bands on the vanish of 
a tone, the body of the tone remaining on the musical. A 
slide is when the body of the tone, rather than the vanish, 
is carried upward or downward, and usually for some con- 
siderable distance. 

Many good results are often obtained by mere imita- 
tion. When we imitate we unconsciously put the organs 
in such a position as will produce something like the pat- 
tern. In voice culture, to a great degree, we are the crea- 
tures of circumstances. We acquire the habit of using a 
certain peculiar intonation, or cadence, or movement which 
we often hear used. We have the English accent be- 



24 

cause we have always heard the English spoken, and we 
have, to a great degree, the composite accent and intona- 
tion of all those whom we have heard speak. Those who 
imitate dialect best are those whose lives have been thrown 
a great deal with those whose dialect they imitate, so in 
voice culture there is much that comes by the application 
of certain known principles, and much, too, that can only 
be learned under the instruction and by imitation of a 
good teacher. In voice culture we must first have a 
definite idea of the sound we wish to make before it can 
be produced with any degree of accuracy. To say to a 
class, "Give a perfectly rounded sound" always pro- 
duces a rounded, open mouth in the pupil. We may 
think tone, pitch, inflection, or force — any phase of voice 
may — nay, must, first have a definite conception in the 
mind of its author for the purposes of vocal culture. 

There is a great -deal said about chest tones and throat 
tones to the utter confusion of the student. Let him have 
one definite idea in the beginning — that all voice is pro- 
duced in the voice box or larynx — it may be controlled 
and molded in other parts of the body, but it is made in 
one place. When we utter all of the vowels on the same 
pitch and with the same force, why is it that they are not 
equally smooth and flexible? Xot because of a difference 
in production, but the difference is made in the molding 
and in resonance. They all are made from the same stream 
of vocalization, as many kinds of pottery are made from 
one kind of clay. The reason they are different is that 
some are more obstructed in their flow than others. To 
test this, first pronounce the letter o and notice the little 
obstruction and effort in the mouth and throat. Then 
pronounce the letter e and note the difference. Then, as a 
rule, the mouth should be open, not broadly, but rather up 
and down, like the letter o. Let students practice contract- 
ing the mouth till the lips form an opening the shape and 
size of a crayon. Now give the sounds of o, u, and a, 



25 

holding the mouth in the same position for each. Then 
form the mouth for the purpose of making o and make a 
instead. ■ Then prolong the letter o and change to a by 
simply a slight change of the tongue without any other 
change of the mouth or throat. Also open the throat. 
This can be done by throwing the jaw down and out and 
by plenty of exercise in the proper manner. This will 
give throat cavity and flexibility, which is peculiarly notice- 
able in song birds. Do not attempt to produce a voice 
that is foreign to you. Sometimes students spend much 
time in forcing the voice down to an habitual low pitch. 
Develop the kind of voice Nature has given you. There 
is more beauty in purity and flexibility than in any one 
degree of pitch. A naturally high voice may become more 
pleasant than a low growl. There is a great deal of fal- 
lacy on this point. Novels speak of the heroine's low, soft 
voice. A voice should be smooth and flexible, not too low 
nor too soft. It is our servant, we are not its slave. De- 
pend upon this, you will accomplish greater results by the 
cultivation and use of the true voice Nature intended you 
should use. So if you have a tenor voice cultivate it, if a 
bass it is just as good, only belonging to another kind. It 
sounds well to speak of a low, smooth voice, but one who 
fails to be heard is hardly serving the purposes for which 
it was intended. 

HARMONY. 

There are certain sounds that appeal to the ear in such 
a pleasing manner that we call their combined product 
music, just as there are objects which attract the eye and 
we call them beautiful. The reason they are beautiful to 
the eye is because they are harmonious in outline, symmet- 
rical, with delicate blending of form and coloring. Hence 
in the harmony of outline and coloring depends what we 
term the beauty of an object. A pile of bricks and lum- 
ber and rubbish is not beautiful because these elements are 



26 

wanting and chaos is not pleasing to. the eye. Now the- 
ear is impressed in about the same manner ; there are mel- 
odies, blending and harmonies of sound which please the 
ear, and these we call music. Sounds may be divided 
into two classes, noise and music. Perfect regularity of the 
number of vibrations in a sound together with smoothness 
in the sound waves will give us a musical tone. The howl- 
ing of the wind is not musical because the pitch of the 
noise is constantly changing, making a circumflex. The 
growling of a dog is not musical for another reason, the 
sound waves are irregular in outline and come to the ear 
in a rough and broken condition. 

In music our principal variety is produced by changes 
in pitch, by distinct steps, by difference in force, time, and 
the swell, but in speech we have all of these and something 
more. We have the inflected tones as well. Why is it 
there is one kind of voice for singing and another kind for 
speaking? Why do we not sing our various wants, likes, 
and dislikes? We have seen that music is the embodiment 
of harmony, that it is the beautiful of speech, and hence 
the function of music is to appeal to the sensibilities — to 
the emotional side of our nature. Now in speech we want 
all this and something more. We must appeal to man's 
every faculty. His intellect must be swayed and that is 
not the province of music. Hence in speech we must have 
strength as well as beauty, power as well as harmony, and 
thus we use the inflected tones as well. Sculpture, as a rule,, 
aims at the beautiful, and this beauty corresponds to that 
harmony in sound which we call music. Now we may 
want a fine building ornamented by sculpture; this is 
beauty combined with the useful or strength, and this cor- 
responds to speech. So while harmony is not the only 
feature to be considered in speech, yet it is a salient fea- 
ture, and no aggregation of strength in speech can entirely 
take the place of harmony. The tympanum of the ear is 
affected in much the same manner as the retina of the eye. 



27 

What appeals to one person will not to another. One eye 
may be sensitive to delicacy of objects and so may one 
catch harmonies, subtleties, and distinctions in a sound that 
is a mere unmusical sensation or noise to another. But 
we shall find that as we study voice we shall also cultivate 
the ear. As the voice becomes quick to adapt and mold 
itself, as it gains in flexibility, so will the ear grow T in its 
•capacity to detect the subtle difference in all of these sounds. 
Some ears can detect a sound that is utter silence to an- 
other, and it is sure a cat can hear the delicate footfalls or 
minutest noises of a mouse, when the human ear would 
be closed to them. It is said of Blind Tom, the celebrated 
negro musician, that he would sit for hours enwrapped in 
melodies his fingers drew from the keys, so wonderful that 
others could not comprehend them, yet he reveled in them 
because he detected in them what to his ear was harmony 
and hence music. There is music of the spheres, only we 
cannot detect it. Perhaps they are only attuned to celes- 
tial ears, but certainly their motions would produce music 
and not noise, for their movements are regular and their 
machinery is so perfectly adjusted there is no discord nor 
want of tuning. The first great lesson which the student 
should learn is to make a small voice and make it well. 
The more voice is produced in a faulty manner the more 
the vocal machinery is disarranged and the more established 
will our incorrect habits become. Too much stress cannot 
be put upon tins. Those students who use their voices to 
any great degree before the correct basis of voice produc- 
tion is established, will destroy timbre and flexibility of 
voice and gain nothing in real power, if, indeed, the throat 
or some of its organs are not permanently injured. The 
fault is this, the student frequently mistakes mere noise for 
power, and thus sacrifices quality to mere quantity. Let 
this be borne in mind then, the lighter voices, with all the 
delicacies of shading and touch, with their perfect timbre 
and variety, with their smoothness, flexibility, and blend- 



28. 

ing, require infinitely more practice and control than mere 
noise, even as they mean infinitely more. Let this also be 
kept before the ambitious student, that the difference be- 
tween the light sounds and the heavy ones is only one of 
degree, not of kind. The same inflections, the same shad- 
ing, and the same timbre are found in the more forcible 
notes, they are only an enlargement of the others. As we 
have said heretofore, voice is a phase of muscular activity. 
Therefore the first thing to be accomplished is to establish 
correct habits of voice by allowing those muscles which 
should have no part in it to relax and take their normal 
condition while others should be cultivated until they take 
their proper place in the vocal mechanism. 

i 

KESONATOKS. 

We should not get the idea that our voices are the mere 
product of the action of the breath upon the vocal bands. 
While the voice box is the seat of its origin, yet without 
the form and quality given by certain resonators it would 
be almost inaudible, and totally lacking in that quality 
which would in any degree resemble music. The chief 
resonator perhaps is the head, and incidentally the nose. 
When the tone is entirely devoid of this quality it loses 
its power, as well as its ring. Stretch the strings of a 
violin across an ordinary table just as they are stretched 
across a violin, draw the bow across them, and do we have 
the tones of the violin? Assuredly not. Then the value 
of the instrument does not lie in the strings alone. Some 
of the violins of the masters are worth their weight in 
gold. It takes as much of a master to make a violin as 
it does to play one. It is only when the strings of a 
violin are stretched above its own case, and the tone pro- 
duced receives an increase of volume and resonance by the 
form and quality of the violin case, that we have the 
beautiful sounds of the violin. The chest is also a great 



29 

resonator of sound, and it is only by understanding the 
correct forms of breathing, applicable to speech and song, 
which we shall consider, that the most perfect resonance 
can be had. The mouth is also another of these sound- 
ing chambers. A full, flexible throat cavity serves to pro- 
duce smoothness and ring to the voice, such as a tensioned 
throat can never give. Students should be guided by the 
teacher, yet never depend entirely upon him. They 
should investigate and test everything. Absolute con- 
fidence in the value of any given work is necessary to suc- 
cess, and the more the student investigates the more sus- 
ceptible the ear will be to detect differences in the produc- 
tion or shading of sounds, and thus he will be better pre- 
pared to zealously enforce a correct principle, or to guard 
against a fallacy. 

Resonance is a form of echo. The vibrations in the 
violin-box, produced by the vibration of the strings, is re- 
turned, or re-echoed from every part of this sounding 
chamber. When its return is regular and harmonious, the 
finest timbre of tone is produced. In making a violin 
proper wood must be used, and the exact formation at- 
tended to ; so in the voice, the differences in timbre depend 
upon the quality, formation, and control of the vocal or- 
gans. The best timbre is where there are fewest overtones, 
and this occurs when the vocal machinery is correctly 
formed, and the sounds are made by a quick, firm, elastic 
touch. 

A drum vibrates and sends back its minute echoes from 
its every part, these joining the primary tone give it ad- 
ditional volume and character. An echo is also a rebound,, 
but it is when the sound is returned from a considerable 
distance, and forms no part of the original sound, but is 
a repetition of it. When the rebound returns in time to 
add volume to, and become a part of the original sound- 
waves we call it resonance, when it does not we name it 
echo. Echo is a shadow of a sound — a spirit that returns 



30 

to haunt the realms that the body which it represents in- 
habits. 

VARIETY IN SPEECH. 

It has already been said that in music we move by 
steps, but in voice our principal variety is in the inflec- 
tions. In their intensity, and combination, and shading 
they are almost infinite. We may speak for any length 
of time on only one or two notes', yet we shall have va- 
riety, because of cadences and inflections, force and stress. 
In music we range easily and quickly from " do " to " do." 
But in speech we are slower and more dignified in move- 
ment. When the voice changes pitch it usually does so 
gradually, and when the change is effected it usually 
dwells on the new plane for at least a sentence or two, and 
then, perhaps, returns at the same measured pace. 

We speak more rapidly than we sing. In song we 
dwell upon the vowels, as they are the open sounds, and 
shun the consonants. In speech we utter the vowels rap- 
idly, and are careful to distinctly utter the consonants as 
well. It takes a minister less time to give out his hymn 
than for his choir to sing it, but he is usually understood 
and they seldom are. Then, the difference between the 
voice in speech and song is not one of production, but 
rather one of movement. 



ENUNCIATION. 

Of course, all vocal culture has for its ultimate end and 
object expression or enunciation. Very often graduates 
from schools of oratory fail to make themselves heard, and 
hence miss entirely the exact object toward which all their 
education should have tended. Our elocution will not 
amount to much if we are not understood, and to be un- 
derstood rather requires correct management of the voice 
than mere volume. Articulation, clear and distinct, is an 



31 

absolute requisite of correct enunciation, for if the 
air waves are run together in a hopeless jumble, 
they will strike the ear in this condition and will con- 
fuse and annoy it. We may have a " chopped sea " 
of sound-waves as we may have of the w 7 aves of water. 
Then, too, the articulation or separation of the sound- 
waves for a small audience may not be sufficient for a 
larger one. 

So, also, we must focus and project the tone properly. 
Xow, the tone is such an intangible thing that it is diffi- 
cult to tell the exact modifications of it in every instance. 
Souie say, "focus the tone in the roof of the mouth," 
others say let it strike the upper front teeth. These are 
mere imaginary directions at best, and a better way is to 
focus it at the object to which we are speaking. If you 
have not this .peculiar power of tone-placing, your speech 
will be smothered and labored. Then go to work and 
practice speaking to an object an hundred yards distant. 
If you have no such object, imagine one. And in public 
speaking be sure that the person nearest the door, or in the 
furthermost corner, hears, and hears distinctly, without 
strain, for the ear by great effort may detect sounds as the 
eye by a strain may see distant objects. Take time on the 
words and between them. In speaking to a large audi- 
ence, slightly raise the pitch and increase the amount of 
force. These qualities, carefully observed, will give us 
correct enunciation. 

Pitch depends upon the number of vibrations produced 
per second. The reason vibration ceases to be sound when 
the number per second is very great or very small is be- 
cause of the limit of our ear in sensitiveness and ability to 
detect them. Force depends upon the size or amplitude 
of the sound-waves, while timbre depends upon their for- 
mation and regularity. 



32 



CONCLUSION. 

Voice culture is not an end, but a means. Its -purpose 
is the developing, enlarging, and disciplining of the mind's 
great vehicle of conveyance. Without this cultivation the 
mind may conceive and the voice, because of its want of 
variety, purity, and adaptability, may refuse to execute. 
The true idea is to so cultivate this instrument that it will 
correctly perform the duties imposed upon it by its master, - 
the mind. We do not cultivate the voice that it may be 
admired, but that, like the carpenter's perfect tools, it may 
do its complete and exact work. 

" Speak the speech, I pray you, * * * trippingly 
on the tongue, but if you mouth it, as many of our play- 
ers do, I had as lief the town crier spake my lines." 



THE- HUMAN VOICE, 



ITS PRODUCTION 



CULTIVATION 



AN ESSAY 

Read before the Classes of 

The National School of Elocution and Oratory 

April i6th, 1891, 

14 14 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 



GEO. B. HYNSON, 



Teacher of Voice Culture. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

027 249 655 9 



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